Abstract Night
by ConnietheCat
Summary: During a blackout at Gregg and Angus' apartment, Mae is reminded of what she has faced before in the darkness. Bea comforts her. (Mae/Bea, could be ooc? Not sure.)


**Abstract Night**

"You have got to be kidding me right now."

"Relax, Beabea! Darkness is my element!"

"Wait guys, let me see if I can find the flashli-"

"Bug, are you okay?"

"Heh…I just tripped over Mae's foot, that's all."

"That hurt, Gregg!"

Lightning flashed through the windows of Angus and Gregg's apartment building, briefly lighting the blackened room. Mae, Bea, Angus, and Gregg were simply having a hangout, when a storm moved into Possum Springs rather quickly, causing a blackout. Gregg moved over to one of the windows, walking carefully after getting a brief glance of his surroundings.

"Yep," the fox observed after looking out the windows. "Rest of town's out too. You two should just call your parents and let know you're staying over." He glanced over at his boyfriend in the dark. "That is, if they can stay over, Angus?"

The bear shuffled, a creak sounding in the room signaling he had sat down onto the couch. "I don't mind. There isn't much of a choice, really." Angus gave small tug to Mae and Bea, signaling them to sit on the couch as he got up.

He came back a second later, with an old flashlight in hand. "It's one of those annoying shake flashlights," Angus said with disinterest and a sigh. "But, it's the one closest around until we use it to find a better one."

Gregg quickly went over to the brown bear. "I'll get the flashlight, Cap'n!" he took the light with a smile, trailing off into the darkness.

Mae grunted. "Wonderful. A nearly pitch black room with brief flashes of light?" she let out a small noise of amusement. "Reminds me of those crappy parties everyone snuck out to go to in high school."

Bea snorted and lit up a cigarette, obviously having a lighter on hand. "Oh God, don't remind me," she exhaled a puff of smoke in the direction opposite of the others. "Wasn't it Jack Wilson's party where Michelle Meyer got into a huge fight with Jessie Brown?"

Mae shot up in the darkness. "Oh yeah! I'm still amazed they weren't arrested," the cat said. "Pretty sure no one left that event un-traumatized."

Angus seemed interested in the story. "There wasn't anything really illegal going on there, right?" he asked. Mae remembered he didn't go to parties, neither back then or now, really. And so, Mae explained the riveting tale of a misunderstood action clear as day.

"Poor raccoon was messed up pretty bad!" Mae chuckled. "Jessie avoided Michelle and Jack like the plague afterwards."

Gregg had come in the middle of the story with the better flashlight, shining his way in to add what he heard of the event. The four, after Mae and Bea had called their parents, laughed into the night, the poor power taking some time to be fixed or pass.

Gregg checked his phone, his face and the area around him becoming swamped with bright light. "Damn, only 10:30?" he muttered. "Honestly, all this darkness is making me tired. Hate to say it, but we oughta go to bed early."

Mae frowned. The power had been out for forty-five minutes. "Gregg, it's a crime to go to bed this early on a Friday!" she groaned as she heard both Gregg and Angus move into their room, setting the good flashlight on the table next to the couch.

The orange fox smirked. "Well, I do crimes all the time, and this is just another one. Hey, we'll get you and Bea some pillows and blankets from the closet, and you can decide who sleeps where." Gregg walked off to his and Angus' room, shaking the bad flashlight along as the good one was left behind for the guests.

After everyone had been settled in, the house was quiet, the ambiance being the pattering of rain hitting the windows. However, Mae couldn't sleep. She went to bed easily enough anywhere, so it couldn't have been being in a new place. It couldn't have been the storm, either, as she had slept through worse, such as a great, roaring blizzard when she was fourteen.

Was it those weird dreams? No, she hadn't had them in weeks since the mining incident. She froze in the midst of her turning, her breath hitching. It was like the complete darkness of the abandoned mine, where murderous cultists lay, where Mae was prepared to be their newest victim.

The fear of being chased through the mine, being dragged into the elevator after one of those madmen had pulled her by the leg, fully intending her to die as he did, escaping thanks to her friends pulling her away. Mae's heart raced as the memories vividly danced in her mind.

And then…Mae felt it. That feeling she had way back when, when everything…disappeared. When nothing had any meaning. When her mind and herself were absent from reality. When the screams of bystanders were drowned out by her own abstract thoughts.

She still remembered the horror in that scream of his and she smashed the baseball bat into his body.

Mae started to cry. The round cat sniffled and curled herself into a ball on the couch, trying to quiet down her noises. Large, red eyes stared out into the empty light of the window, line lines of lightning flashing in the distance. Thank God Angus had turned out the lights, even with the power out in case they came back on.

"Mae?" a voice called into the night. Crap, Bea had heard her. The crocodile shifted into a sitting position on the floor as she looked up to her friend. "Are you crying, Mae?"

Mae didn't answer. The only indication of the cat hearing was the faint outline of her nodding. Bea frowned, and sat onto the couch near her shorter friend. "What's wrong?" she asked, placing a scaly hand on Mae's side.

"I just…remembered that crap with the cult, that's all," Mae mumbled, pressing her face into her pillow. "And brutally mauling a kid. Fun stuff."

Bea frowned again, looking concerned. "Mae, get up," she said, and waited for her to do that. "Look, for the cult thing, that wasn't your fault. None of it was."

Mae interrupted. "I never thought it was my fault, Bea," she choked out, becoming a bit overwhelmed. "I just…came so close to death. I could have died, Bea. We all could have. Just because of my stupid talk of there being a ghost in town."

Bea looked shocked, leaning back into the couch. "Mae….no. Don't think like that!" her voice quieted, "I'm not an expert on that mental stuff you have, but we did survive. We came out alive. And it was thanks to you a whole bunch of bad people are no longer doing bad things."

The crocodile inhaled, lifting Mae into a hug. "And…your 'Killer' accident…I can't comment on that," Her black eyes stared deep into Mae's red ones. "I don't know what was going on with you, and I still don't. But please, for all of us, and your sake, don't dwell on it. You're more than that."

Mae sobbed as quietly as she could muster, sputtering out Bea's name and she gripped tighter into the hug. All of the chubby cat's body weight was on Bea, though in the laying down position they were in, it didn't matter. Mae looked and Bea with an indecisive face then pecked her cheek with a kiss.

Bea gasped. "M-Mae?" she whispered, startled. The lanky crocodile's heart pounded as she was at a loss of words and thought.

Mae looked to the side. "Shit, sorry. Bea, I didn't mean t-" Her nervous talk was cut off by the rekindled hug from Bea, who was smiling.

"Mae, it's alright," Bea said nervously, trying not to freak out. She had just been kissed by her friend. Her friend, who she tried to repress her feelings for. _Great karma, Bea!_ She scolded herself. _You were in denial and now you've come out._

Mae frowned. "I…I thought were straight, Bea," she said, a bit sensitively. "And…who would like this trash mammal?" There was a bit of a repressed chuckled from Mae.

Bea looked into the dark room and she pulled in Mae for more hugs. "I did too," she admitted, "I had no idea what I was doing. Just, talking to men and hoping something would spark, hoping that I would be like any normal girl. And then, I realized. I like you Mae." She gulped. "I love you."

Mae's eyes watered, sparkling with emotion. "I-I like you too, Bea. I didn't deny it, but I never thought anything would ever happen, and I would just move on." Mae snuggled into Bea's side. "But…Bea, would you maybe, uh…be my girlfriend?" It was a lot more awkward than anticipated.

Bea smiled. "Yeah Mae, we can do that." She meant to go back onto the floor, but a possessive grab from Mae signaled her to stay. Sighing contently, Bea fell asleep, cuddling with her newfound girlfriend.

Needless to say, when the storm pass and the sun rose, Angus and Gregg woke up to the adorable picture of the tall, thin crocodile and the short, chubby cat lying together.


End file.
